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I Love Our Church but...

By Dana Whalley

Kraainem (04 September 2005).- I love our church. As an American living overseas I feel blessed to have such a beautiful church, with excellent priests and dedicated lay ministers/volunteers. Unfortunately, I have come to realise that there is an 'ugly' side to St Anthony's parish

What is the 'ugly' side of St Anthony's that I speak of? It is the fact that 30-50% of the parishioners arrive late for the 11:30 mass every week. I am not talking about 2-3 minutes late I am talking about 10-20 minutes late. For a one hour event that occurs once a week! 

Why does this bother me and so many other parishioners? Because it has become a major distraction to those of us who go to mass on time in order to listen to the Liturgy of the Word. We come to church each week to hear the Liturgy of the Word, to reflect on its meaning and to apply it to our daily lives. This is especially true at the 11:30 mass which is often focused on adults and adult issues.

We have all been late to mass before and there is often a good excuse but the situation has gotten out of control. Our priest would certainly rather have us come late to mass than not come at all but they are frustrated. In truth, the ugly side of St Anthony's reflects a lack of self discipline amongst the parishioners and a lack of commitment to our faith. I truly believe that the two issues are liked. If you strengthen your self discipline and get to church on time you will be able to hear the Liturgy of the Word and you will strengthen your commitment to God.

So please, show some respect to your fellow parishioners and more importantly show some respect to God and his fine priests who are truly worth listening to.

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